Things Are Afoot

It took just over three months, but this weekend, the sun (actually) came out for pretty much the first time this year. Having said that, it was still pretty cold on Saturday morning when I met Stefanie and Lea from Germany for the walk from Trafalgar Square to St Paul's, but was still nice to feel a few rays of sunshine. Here they are standing next to one of the old Routemaster buses.

No. 15 - Routemaster Bus

I think I've mentioned the Routemasters before, so just in case you don't know, they're the old iconic 'hop on, hop off' buses that have been ferrying people around London for over 50 years. Only parts of two routes, the No.9 and the No.15 still operate Routemaster buses, having been phased out a few years back. Something which Stefanie mentioned, and is quite true, is that if you pick up the No.15 near Trafalgar Square, it takes you down Fleet Street, passed St Paul's cathedral, and finishes up by the Tower of London, so doubles up as a bit of a sight-seeing bus too.

Although they perhaps regretted it by the end of the day (due to the cold, and perhaps hanging around with me for too long), Stefanie and Lea stayed for the afternoon walk and were joined by Carys, Philip and Julie, who all came from London, from the confusingly named Southgate in north London. Here they are outside a sun-kissed St Paul's cathedral.

St Paul's cathedral

We headed over to Bankside, the area on the opposite side of the Thames from St Paul's cathedral; home to the Tate Modern art gallery, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and much more besides. The Tate Modern was originally a power station called Bankside Power Station and was completed in 1963. The large imposing chimney is 325ft (99m) tall and was designed to deliberately be shorter than St Paul's cathedral on the opposite bank, which was very thoughtful. Anyway, Philip and Julie told us that they had their first ever date back in the 1980's at a disco that was taking place in the old Power Station, before it was converted in to the art gallery. I love hearing little stories like that.

On Sunday, I met Doyle and Gary from America for the east end walk, and again, it was a wonderful clement day, which meant that Columbia Road flower market was in full swing by the time we got there. Here they are on Brick Lane, which on Sundays is utterly transformed from the rest of the week, full of markets and people. They're standing outside the Jamme Masjid Mosque, which I have written about previously and completely encapsulates the immigrant history of the area in one fell swoop.